Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 466 "The Battle of Taierzhuang" (Film Review)

When the topic turned to martial arts fairy tales, Liu Yimin became interested and shared many of his ideas with Zheng Yuanjie. Zheng Yuanjie discovered that Liu Yimin also had a deep understanding of fairy tales and was by no means an outsider who only knew about adult literature.

"Western fairy tales are now also starting to be filled with elements of adventure, which are not only liked by adults, but also by children, and perhaps even more so. Who hasn't had the experience of wanting to explore a cave with a flashlight?"

The story involves going to a cave, meeting an old man inside a ring, who teaches me martial arts, and thus beginning my journey of exorcising demons—this is the element of a serendipitous encounter. Western fairy tales also emphasize serendipitous encounters, such as monsters in bottles.
Fairy tales simply have simpler logic and vocabulary more suitable for children. The element of martial arts, on the other hand, inherently carries an adventurous quality.

Xi Mei, who was standing next to her, said, "For example, the story of the Big Bad Wolf that we used to hear was a supernatural tale from the Tang Dynasty."

“Yes, yes, Ximei’s understanding is good,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Liang Xiangdong said, "So fairy tales are just adult stories disguised as fairy tales!"

"Yimin, you truly understand one principle and all principles; you've grasped the core of fairy tale writing. Actually, I think so too, and this is one of the reasons why I write so quickly. I like to find inspiration from other novels, even news reports." Zheng Yuanjie gave a thumbs up in admiration.

Seeing the popularity of "Huo Yuanjia" and other popular literature, Zheng Yuanjie thought that if he incorporated it into a fairy tale, the sales of "King of Fairy Tales" would probably reach 500,000 copies.

Liu Yu walked to Liu Yimin's side, and Liu Yimin pulled her into his arms: "The brilliance of a story lies in its ability to keep readers reading. Adults have critical thinking skills, but children only care about how engaging the story is and whether the dialogue resonates with them."

Conversely, creators themselves need to write well and genuinely care about children.

Liu Yu was eating candy, and drool was dripping down her face. Liu Yimin quickly took out a tissue to wipe it off for her.

Seeing the torn-up copy of "King of Fairy Tales" in Liu Yu's hand, Zheng Yuanjie asked, "Does Xiaoyu not like my 'King of Fairy Tales'?"

“No, this kid can’t keep his hands busy,” Liu Yimin quickly said.

Zheng Yuanjie looked away from Liu Yu. Every time Liu Yu tore a book, his heart ached terribly, as if his own child was being torn apart.

Seeing this, Xi Mei took Liu Yu away from Liu Yimin's arms.

He had a very pleasant chat with Zheng Yuanjie, and that evening he simply ate in the courtyard house. Xi Mei cooked the dishes, and Yang Xiuyun also prepared some local specialties from Ru County.

The group enjoyed their meal immensely. Zheng Yuanjie had been making money lately, eating well, and spending all his time writing novels, which had actually made him gain weight.

Accountant Liang Xiangdong looked very pleased. The two hundred yuan had made his family's life better day by day. In addition to the two hundred yuan, he also received a bonus of thirty to fifty yuan every month. Now, even if he were asked to go back to the state-owned factory, he probably wouldn't want to go back.

"Yimin, did you know that 'Legends of the Past and Present' has sold over three million copies?" Zheng Yuanjie asked, looking up.

Liu Yimin certainly knew this; the editor of *Legend of Today and Yesterday* had even made a long-distance call to tell him that a total of 3.2 million copies had been sold. The fact that copies of the October issue were still available on the market after the new issue was published proved that 3.2 million copies was not the final figure.

They also wanted Liu Yimin to write a few more articles, which would not only boost their sales but also elevate the status of popular literature.

“Old Zheng, don’t envy them. One day, ‘King of Fairy Tales’ will sell millions of copies,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

Zheng Yuanjie took a bite of the golden pancake in his hand, his fingers covered in oil: "Really? I believe you. Like you said, a person needs to have a goal. When I decided to work with you, I didn't think about only selling two or three hundred thousand copies a month. Magazines are like people; you have to have ambition. If you don't have ambition, you won't go far at all."

"What Xiao Zheng said makes sense. We country folk may be poor, but we still have a spirit!" Yang Xiuyun praised.

"I'll try to write one. What I just said was so simple; I was just talking theory. Theory is no substitute for practice." Liu Yimin smiled and looked at Liu Yu beside him, asking, "Dad will write you a story. Do you want to read it?"

"Yes." Liu Yu clasped her hands together and raised them above her head. Liu Yimin gently pinched her nose: "Okay, eat more. Look how much your brother has eaten!"

"Brother eat."

"Hahaha!"

Zheng Yuanjie wiped the oil off his hands and said, "Yimin, are you serious?"

"Isn't that what you meant, Lao Zheng?" Liu Yimin said with a grin.

"Hey, I was just thinking about it, I didn't really dare to. After all, you're a great writer, writing fairy tales, it seems a bit unrefined to talk about it in public," Zheng Yuanjie said hesitantly.

"The main thing is the story, so there's no distinction between high and low. Are children not human? I don't think that way, but I'm going to write one, and it has to be a long one."

Zheng Yuanjie said, "They're good-looking, they're good-looking. We'll serialize them one issue at a time and keep all the readers hooked."

"It's still uncertain what will happen. Don't be too optimistic. What if it's even more embarrassing?"

"No problem at all, Yimin, I'll be going now. I had a very pleasant chat with you today." Zheng Yuanjie finished his food and prepared to get up.

Stepping outside, the wind was howling. Liu Yimin saw Zheng Yuanjie off as he walked out the door.

"Let's go back, we're leaving." Zheng Yuanjie and Liang Xiangdong rode their bicycles and disappeared at the end of the alley.

The weather started to get cold in November, and the heating was turned on at the Overseas Chinese Apartment. When Zhu Lin returned, the family moved to the Overseas Chinese Apartment like migratory birds.

Looking at the fallen leaves blowing in the yard, Yang Xiuyun sighed, "Time really flies. It feels like just yesterday it was getting warm, and now it's getting cold."

"Mom, time flies by so fast! When I was little, I always thought the New Year was so special. I looked forward to it and waited for New Year's Eve to have a good meal. Now, in the blink of an eye, it's New Year's again."

"Are you going home for Chinese New Year this year?"

“Let’s go back together,” Liu Yimin said.

Yang Xiuyun was overjoyed to hear this. Her grandson and granddaughter were almost two years old, and no one in the village had ever seen them yet. This year, they would finally be able to see them during the Spring Festival.

"Linlin is coming back. Remember to pick her up early tomorrow," Yang Xiuyun instructed.

"Mom, I know."

Liu Yimin went into the room and tidied up the place. His flight was at 3 PM tomorrow.

The next day, Liu Yimin walked into Yenching University. The students were discussing current affairs in the Triangle Area. When someone saw Liu Yimin, they immediately shouted in his direction.

"Professor Liu, Huo Yuanjia is a wonderful novel!"

"Hurrah!"

"Professor Liu, 'Dust Settles Down' is a wonderful piece!"

"Hurrah!"

The students sang in unison, their voices carrying from the Triangle Area all the way to the Boya Pagoda across Weiming Lake. They were joyful, energetic, and full of high spirits.

Liu Yimin waved to them from a distance but didn't stop the car to chat with them. The students were in excellent spirits and could stand and chat with Liu Yimin for an entire morning.

Upon arriving at the office, Liu Yimin took off his hat and ran to the stove to warm his hands.

"Cold, isn't it? It's still early!" Wu Zuxiang said cheerfully.

After warming up his front, Liu Yimin turned around and warmed his back: "This stove has a big fire. The professor who arrived first deserves the credit."

Wang Yao said with her hands tucked in her pockets, "Jade, next time you come earlier, you should start the fire first, that would be much better."

"Okay, Professor Wang."

Liu Yimin asked, "What do Professor Wang, Professor Wu, and the people from the Institute of Literature think?"

“That’s great. I think we should just leave it at Peking University instead of giving it back to their school,” Wu Zuxiang said with a smile.

"Haha, you guys want every single one you see. That's what Wang Liqun said back then too."

Wang Yao said seriously, "That Cha Haisheng is a bit too quiet, unusually so. It feels like he has a lot on his mind. You need to get to know him better so that nothing else goes wrong."

“This child’s poetry is very pure. I never expected there to be such a student in the law department before, but he is indeed reclusive. It is said that great poetry is born from extreme emotions, but there is no need to be too extreme. This child is honest and straightforward, but he is too reclusive.” Wu Zuxiang sighed several times and shook his head repeatedly. “Professors, you should also do more ideological work with students. What if he is better than me?”

Let's work together.

Hai Zi was pure and honest, but also very sensitive. Like many child prodigies, he suffered from pain that was not understood by outsiders. He was admitted to Yenching University at the age of 15, and his young body bore a lot of psychological pressure.

During the National Day holiday, several people made plans to go out together, but Hai Zi didn't go. He wasn't usually very sociable, and Dai Jianye and the others treated him like a younger brother, trying to get him to be more outgoing, but it didn't work.

Liu Yimin chatted with them for a while and then went to the Institute of Literature. The group was engrossed in writing papers and conducting research in the room. Li Liangrong was not there; he was compiling textbooks with several other teachers. Hai Zi was writing.

He was lying very close to the paper, his body slightly curled up, with a large gap between him and the other people's seats.

The research topics of everyone at the Institute of Literature and Art have commonalities, so they inevitably have to exchange ideas frequently, which makes them very close to each other. Hai Zi's seat is like a small island isolated overseas.

Liu Yimin was not far from Haizi. Haizi suddenly looked up, saw that it was Liu Yimin, and smiled as he called out, "Teacher Liu."

"what are you writing?"

"I'm writing a paper on domestic poetry research, and I'm also thinking about my own poetry," Hai Zi honestly said.

After getting his permission, Liu Yimin glanced at it and praised, "You write well, you are a good poet, but you can do better."

"How can it be better?"

"Your poetry is a product of your spiritual world. Rather than saying you've written about this world, it's more accurate to say you yearn for it. Having a spiritual world is a good thing, but it's also important to connect it with the external world. Great poets discover the true meaning of poetry through practice, and when romanticism becomes too strong, it's also good to add a touch of reality."

Do you like Van Gogh?

Hai Zi nodded and looked at Liu Yimin. At that moment, he felt that Liu Yimin was the person who understood him the most. Liu Yimin's words struck his heart hard.

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, best known for his sunflower paintings. Hai Zi's "The Sun of Arles" is a tribute to Van Gogh, who ultimately committed suicide due to mental instability.

"A rich and delicate inner world is a good thing, because you can quietly observe things that ordinary people cannot see. But it is also a bad thing, because you cannot change it, yet you cannot turn a blind eye, so you suffer and you become haggard. You stand on the top of the mountains, mocking the foolishness of the world."

But this is not the mass perspective we learned. If we want to change, we need to go among the masses and become one with them.

Hai Sheng, this is a world where good and evil intertwine; there is no such thing as an ideal state. Romain Rolland said, "A true warrior is one who sees the true nature of life and still loves it."

Hai Zi looked at Liu Yimin, his eyes flashing with a complex mix of emotions—he was thinking, he was struggling. The other trainees, hearing Liu Yimin's words, involuntarily put down the documents they were holding and listened to his soft-spoken reply.

“Teacher Liu, I also wish that the waters of the Canglang River were clear enough to wash my hat ornaments, and that the waters of the Canglang River were muddy enough to wash my feet, but sometimes I can’t do it,” Cha Haisheng said strugglingly.

"It's okay, take your time. There are many classmates here, and you can get to know them and interact with them. They may have this or that flaw, but that's what makes them real people."

Liu Yimin checked the time; it was time for class. Without continuing his conversation with Haizi, he hurriedly went to class.

Everyone else, except Hai Zi, followed Liu Yimin around, listening in.

"Don't follow us too closely, it'll look like we're the mafia," Liu Yimin joked.

The others chuckled, books tucked between their fingers, cigarette butts dangling from their sides. The group walked together, making the school seem like it had a "Liu Family Gang."

After finishing his lecture, Liu Yimin treated them to lunch at the Changzheng Hotel. Since graduating, Liu Yimin had rarely been to the Changzheng Hotel, and when he did eat there occasionally, it never tasted the same as before.

After the meal, Liu Yimin told them to go back and study hard, and to help Haizi more often.

"Don't try too hard, or he'll feel even worse."

After sending them back, Liu Yimin went straight to the airport. He waited at the airport for half an hour before Zhu Lin appeared at the gate.

Zhu Lin was wearing a black trench coat and a white turtleneck sweater, resting her chin on her hand, and was wrapping a beige scarf around herself.

Liu Yimin tiptoed to the side, reached out and covered Zhu Lin's eyes. Zhu Lin laughed and said, "Teacher Liu, I know it's you. The glass in front is reflecting light!"

Liu Yimin stared speechlessly at the glass wall in front of Zhu Lin, feeling like he had just made a fool of himself.

Zhu Lin wrapped a scarf around her neck, tiptoed, and gently kissed Liu Yimin's cheek: "Teacher Liu, let's go home."

People nearby were watching this scene. Zhu Lin pulled Liu Yimin and walked away, afraid that others would gossip.

Riding his motorcycle against the wind, Liu Yimin asked, "How are you feeling on set?"

"The crew was excellent, and Director Yang Jie's grasp of the scenes was very precise; she truly deserves to be called a veteran director. Leading a crew to so many cities all by herself, she's a real iron lady," Zhu Lin praised loudly.

Liu Yimin said, "I'm waiting to watch your TV show."

"I don't know when it will air, and the makeup is so heavy that you might not recognize me if I didn't tell you." Zhu Lin looked at her makeup while filming and thought it looked like a freshly painted wall.

"Oh, Zhu Lin, you underestimate me. No matter what, I'll recognize you."

Zhu Lin snorted to indicate her disbelief, and involuntarily hugged Liu Yimin tightly, resting her head on Liu Yimin's back.

Back in the courtyard house, the two quickly ran to the study to warm up. The air conditioning was only so-so, but as soon as they came in, compared to the outside, the study felt as warm as an oven.

When the two little ones saw Zhu Lin, they both pouted and started crying, stretching out their arms and insisting that Zhu Lin hold them.

Zhu Lin picked up the two little ones: "If they grow a little bigger, I won't be able to pick them both up at once."

Liu Yu took out candy from her pocket and fed it to Zhu Lin. Liu Lin did the same, reaching into Liu Yu's pocket to get candy for Zhu Lin.

After exchanging pleasantries for a short while, Zhu's parents arrived. The two of them specifically set aside time to see Zhu Lin.

"No wonder they say the southern climate is good for people; Linlin has gotten so much fairer!" Zhu's mother said happily.

Yang Xiuyun said, "That's right, in-laws, please come inside and sit down; it's warmer inside."

The two families had a lively dinner that evening. Zhu Lin talked about what he had seen and heard on the set, and about Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong: "When it's on TV, a lot of people will definitely watch it. It's very well made. It's just that some special effects need to be added during editing, otherwise it won't look good."

After seeing off Zhu's parents and taking a bath, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin had a rare reunion. It was a reunion, but also a prelude to a charge!

"Teacher Liu, Director Yang Jie even praised you, saying that 'Huo Yuanjia' would definitely be a good movie."

"The production team was planning to invite you to be the female lead, but since you're in Zhejiang Province, they didn't tell you beforehand." Liu Yimin kept moving his hands around.

“Great! I’d be happy to act in a movie. If it sells well overseas, I’ll have made a name for myself internationally.”

Zhu Lin was delighted and chatted excitedly with Liu Yimin about the script, forgetting all his exhaustion.

The next morning, someone knocked on the gate of the courtyard. Yang Guangyuan and Zhai Junjie, the directors of "The Battle of Taierzhuang", came over with the film that had just been edited and asked Liu Yimin to review it first. If he felt that there was nothing else to cut, he would take it to the Film Bureau for review.

Zhai Junjie said, "Comrade Yimin, you were the first person Lao Yang came to see after he finished editing the film. The factory hasn't seen it yet, let's watch it together."

Liu Yimin smiled and let the two of them in. He opened the door where the projector was located, and Yang Guangyuan skillfully loaded the film. He turned it on and tested it, saying, "The color reproduction of your machine is quite good."

“That’s right, this was produced by Jinling Film Machinery Factory,” Liu Yimin said.

The movie was about to start, and Liu Yimin invited everyone in his family to come in and watch. The movie picture quality was clear, and even the slightest movements of the characters could be seen.

Amidst the deafening explosions, one could see Han Fuqu's fleeing army and countless refugees.
Liu Yimin, Yang Guangyuan, and Zhai Junjie exchanged opinions from time to time.

(End of this chapter)